Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat; add the garlic sauté until it is tender and beginning to caramelize -- six to eight minutes. Add the molasses, beer, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper and spices; bring to a boil. Lower the heat a bit and let it cook at a simmer for about ten minutes. Stir occasionally so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the saucepan. Mix in the tomato paste and pineapple and lower the heat and let the sauce simmer for thirty minutes, continuing to stir every few minutes. I used my immersion blender to puree the sauce. Let it cool to room temperature before serving.*The spices are an approximation. I wanted a sauce more sweet than hot. Adjust them to your liking.Peace,Milton

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Cook over medium heat until the flour begins to brown. Add the milk and cream and cook until the liquids are warm, but not boiling; they may even begin to thicken up a bit. Add the cheese, corn, and cayenne. When the cheese has almost melted, slowly pour a ladle or two of the hot liquid over the eggs, stirring diligently, to temper the eggs and then add them back to the cream and corn mixture. Remove from heat and pour into casserole dish. Bake for forty minutes or until set.Peace,Milton

Dredge the tomato slices in the flour and then toss them in the buttermilk. Shake them off a little and toss them in the masa. Heat about a half inch of canola oil in a skillet to about 350 and then drop the tomato slices into the hot oil. Cook them until lightly browned -- two-three minutes a side.

Butter the King's rolls and put them butter side down on a hot grill pan or skillet just long enough to brown them. Set them on the plate. Put down two or three tomatoes, a couple of slices of avocado, a handful of the shredded lettuce, and then paint the top of the bun with the mayo.Make enough for seconds.Peace,Milton

This has been the summer of good peaches and great tomatoes here in Durham. Thanks to

some fresh mozzarella, a little basil, and some balsamic glaze, I came up with this version of the classic salad.

2 peaches, cored and then slicedslices of fresh mozzarella about the same size as the peachescherry tomatoes, cut in half, longwaysfresh basil, cut in chiffonadeolive oilbalsamic vinegar(I actually used a balsamic reduction I found at Trader Joe's.)

Lay the slice of peach on the plate. Stack the mozzarella on top and then cover cheese with a handful of tomatoes. Sprinkle the basil across the top and then drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.Peace,Milton

Combine sugar, milk, salt, and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly. Bring to a simmer. Place the egg yolks into a small bowl. Gradually stir in about 1/2 cup of the hot liquid to temper the eggs and return all of it to the saucepan. Heat until thickened, but do not boil. Remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped chocolate until chocolate is melted. Pour into a bowl and then place that bowl in a larger bowl with ice and put both in the refrigerator for about two hours until the mixture is cold. Once that has happened, whisk in the cream and vanilla. Pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's directions (which will probably include letting the ice cream set in the freezer for a good couple of hours -- this is not a last minute recipe).We also served it with this Guinness Chocolate Sauce.I adapted the recipe from here.Peace,Milton

Saturday, August 16, 2014

I use my stove top grill pan. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus spears and toss them in a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Get the grill pan hot and then put a single layer on the pan. Grill them for four minutes or so, moving them around so they are heated on all sides. You don't want them to get squishy; just cook them long enough to get some grill marks. Set them aside. When they have cooled, cut them into one inch segments. I like to cut on the bias, which means an angled cut to give them a little flair.

Stand the corn cob on one end and, using a serrated knife, cut the kernels off the cob. (You can save the cobs in the freezer and add them to stocks or soups later.)

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Toss everything together in a big bowl and add the basil vinaigrette.

Blend together using an immersion blender or a regular blender until mixture is emulsified. You may need to add a little more oil. Pour over salad and serve. You also may not need all of the dressing -- your call.

Trim the stems and bottom core off of each fig and then quarter it.Pit the peaches and then slice them thinly.Put figs and peaches into large saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat till fruit softens, then stir well to make sure the fruit is covered by the liquid. Reduce the heat to low and cook for about 1-1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. The sauce will thicken a bit. It works served either warm or at room temperature.

This dish was assembled from experiences during my week: I found baby beets at the Durham

Farmer's Market and I had a Caesar Salad with grilled Romaine lettuce at a restaurant. The goat cheese was a memory from my days at the Red Lion Inn that came back as I tried to figure out what to do for dinner.

Cut the goat cheese into one ounce slices (I use a piece of fishing line to cut them) and then roll each slice into a ball and then flatten the ball into a disc that looks like a marble with flat sides. Dredge the little discs in the flour and then drop them into the milk and egg mixture and then into the cracker crumbs. Place them on a cookie sheet or plate lined with wax paper or parchment and then put them in the freezer for at least two hours. When you are ready to serve, heat about a third of an inch of olive oil in a sauté pan and fry the croutons for about a minute a side, until they are browned. Drain and add to the salad. Basically, start with the croutons and end with them in your preparation.

Rinse the beets well and then cover them in a saucepan with water. I added two cinnamon sticks, a bay leaf, some peppercorns, and some dried lemongrass. You could also add a

cut up lemon or orange for a little flavor. Bring them to a boil and let them cook for about an hour. Drain them, peel them, let them cool, halve them, and then toss them in a little lemon juice and olive oil.

I used a grill pan on my stovetop for the lettuce. I got the pan hot, brushed the cut side of the lettuce with olive oil, and set it on the grill for about three minutes: until I could see the grill marks. I did not turn them over; I only grilled one side and then set them aside as I did the rest. The lettuce does not have to be warm when you serve it.

This past week at the Durham Farmer’s market I came across some beautiful, small, and

variegated eggplant. When I asked the farmer about them, she said they were “fairytale eggplants,” which I then had to buy, of course, merely because of the name. As with most everything else, what was new to me was not new at all. I found this recipe when I got home to start thinking about Thursday Night Dinner and adapted it to suit my needs. I served it with my Summer Peach Marinara and we all ate happily ever after.

oil (for frying)1 12 oz. bottle of beer (I used Sam Adams because that was what I found in the fridge.)1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper1/4 teaspoon kosher salt16-20 fairytale or miniature eggplants

Gently remove the green stems and then cut the eggplants in half longways. Mix the dry ingredients and add the beer; whisk until it makes a batter. Heat the oil to 350°. Pour the eggplants into the batter and stir to cover them all. When the oil is hot, drop them one at a time into the batter and cook about two minutes a side, or until they are golden brown. You will need to do them in batches. The batter gives them the look of tempura vegetables.

This is one of the easiest ice cream recipes I have found because you don't have to cook

anything. The texture is more like a sorbet. Very flavorful.

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 cup buttermilk

Combine sugar and juice in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk until sugar dissolves. Add half-and-half, whole milk, and buttermilk. Pour mixture into the freezer can of an ice-cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Spoon ice cream into a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze 1 hour or until firm.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Let me begin by saying that I realize when you write a recipe you are expected to give amounts of ingredients. The problem with a good pasta sauce is there is a fair amont of improvisation, of wiggle room, when it comes to exactly how much of something goes in the mix. With that in mind, a couple of weeks ago I got a great deal on a big box of tomatoes at the Durham Farmer’s Market. I also two big bags of basil. I keep a bunch of garlic around the house all the time. I came home to make Marinara. When I got home, I remembered the box of ripe peaches we had and decided to try something based on a recipe I have for a tomato-peach jam. The result was a Tomato-Peach Marinara that is light and sweet and awesome.

Here’s the recipe. Find your way to the taste you want.

40 garlic cloves, crushed

10-12 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and crushed

8-10 ripe peaches, blanched and peeled

all the basil you can get your hands on

salt

pepper

cinnamon (start with 1/4 teaspoon)

The easiest way to peel tomatoes and peaches is to blanch them, which means to get a big pot — and I do mean a big pot — of water boiling, cut a one-inch “X” in the bottom of both the peaches and the tomatoes, and then drop them in the boiling water. I did the two fruits separately because the peaches need to boil for about three minutes and the tomatoes should go no more than thirty seconds. Lift them out of the water and put them in a bowl to cool for a minute (again, I kept them separate), then peel them. Slice the peaches and set them aside. Put the peeled tomatoes in a bowl and crush them with your hands until they are a big chunky mess.

Cover the bottom of your stock pot with garlic. I mean cover it. Then cover the garlic with olive oil. Yes, cover the garlic. I don't mean pour deep fry the stuff, but you're going to put about a cup of oil over that much garlic. Then put it on medium heat, cover, and let the garlic cook for about ten minutes, until it begins to brown and it softens. Add the tomatoes and peaches and reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. When the sauce begins to simmer, lower the heat a bit and uncover it and let it cook for two or three hours, until the tomatoes have mostly cooked away and the peaches are falling apart. Chiffonade or chop the basil and add it to the sauce and stir. Let it simmer another fifteen minutes or so and then purée the sauce using an immersion blender, or you can transfer it in batches to a food processor or a blender. (If you do it that way, be very careful.) Once it is smooth, add salt, pepper, and cinnamon, tasting and adjusting the flavors to your liking.

I’ve used it on ravioli and pasta and eggplant parmigiana. I’ve also just eaten it with a spoon. This summer sauce is amazing. And yes, you can freeze it.